Bean and Oat Veggie Burger

When the need of the hour is to make your little one eat nutritious food without much fuss, the Burger is the way to go.  Simple, easy to make and extra delicious. Put a large dollop of tomato sauce inside the burger, for the kiddies and it goes in faster!

This burger is high in protein what with all the beans, lentils and oats. I used a combination of red kidney beans, black eyed beans, green channa dal, yellow channa dal, double beans, some other variety of bean that I dont recognise and green moong beans. The burger can also be made with very little oil and I mainly used oil to shallow fry the patty.
These burgers can be extra filling because of the beans. I served them with a portion of coleslaw instead of fries to round it off as a healthy efficient meal.

Bean and Oat Veggie Burger

Servings: 9 Patties
Prep Time:       Cook Time:

Ingredients 

1 cup Mixed beans
1/2 cup Green Moong beans
2 small Potatoes (optional)
1 small onion (cut in rings or jullienne)
1 tomato cut in slices
1 cucumber cut in slices
1/4 cup Oats flour
2 tsp Red Chilli powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/4 tsp Aamchoor (Dried Mango powder)
1/2 tsp Cumin Coriander powder
1/2 cup Coriander Chutney (optional)
1/2 cup Tomato sauce (optional)
9 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Pressure cook soaked beans along with potatoes upto 3 whistles
2. Mash the cooked beans and potatoes
3. Add in all the spices and salt and mix well
4. Add in the oats flour and mix well.If the mixture is still having a paste like consistency add in more flour to make it drier
5. Take an onion sized piece of the patty mixture and pat it to a flat round of 2 1/2 inch diameter and 1/2 inch thickness
6. Shallow fry on a heated skillet by drizzling a little oil around it
7. Let it fry for a couple of minutes on medium-low flame, flip it and shallow fry the other side with a little bit of oil
8. Once its nicely done, remove from skillet and keep aside
9. Repeat the preparation of patty with the rest of the mixture.

To assemble the burger

1. Slice a burger in half and toast it in the toaster for a minute to get it nice and crisp. Alternately roast the inside of the bun on a hot skillet with some butter lathered on
2. Spread the inside of the bottom half with coriander chutney
3. Top it with onion slices
4. Place the burger patty on top of the onion, spread a little tomato sauce and top it off with tomato and cucumber slices
5. Place the upper half of the bun right on top

Quick soak for beans

1. Wash the mixed beans a couple of times in water
2. Place it in a vessel and cover with water upto 2 inches over the beans
3. Boil the water and then remove vessel from stove, cover and leave to soak for an hour
4. The beans would have softened and are ready to be cooked further. Wash and ready to use.
5. Soaking decreases the cooking time of the beans

Ragi Mudde (Finger Millet Balls)

Ragi (Finger Millet) is that wonder grain to which peans ought to be written. It is the richest source of calcium and helps builds bone strength in our bodies and therefore essential for growing children and also in older adults. It is a wonderful source of anti-oxidants and has a good amount of dietary fiber which ensures that we feel fuller for a longer time thus reducing the chances of snacking in between meals or over-eating. The slow digestion aids in controlling blood sugar levels and therefore can be a staple in a diabetic's diet. It has a very small percentage of fat but even then its unsaturated fats.
Ragi is one of the best sources of protein providing many of the essential amino acids which should be reason enough to be incorporated into all vegetarian diets. It is one of the main sources of Methionine which helps reduce cholesterol, reduce fat inside the livers and help protect kidneys.
When sprouted, Ragi develops Vitamin C which helps in absorption of the Iron content in the grain.
Ragi can be prepared in many number of ways,as a ball, sweet or salty porridge, flatbreads, sweets especially with jaggery, each very tasty!
In this post I will talk about making the easiest preparation with Ragi called the Mudde. It is a staple in Karnataka especially among the rural folk. But I think it is about time that the urbanscape adopted this wonder grain into their diets and reap the benefits.

Ragi Mudde (Finger Millet Balls)

Servings: 4 balls
Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Ragi Flour
3 1/2 cups Water
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Oil (optional)

Instructions

• Heat water in a vessel and along with salt, oil and 4 tbsp of Ragi flour.
• When the water starts to boil (notice bubbles appearing through the flour) stir in the remaining flour.
• Use a  1-inch thick wooden dowel or the back of a big wooden spoon (which wont break under pressure) to combine the flour well into the water.
• Allow it to cook for 5 mins and remove from stove. By now the raw smell of ragi must be replaced by a cooked smell.
• Let it cool for 2-3 mins (this step is optional but my hand cant take the heat)
• Take a large blob of the mix and place on a slightly greased flat plate. (1/2 tsp of Oil)
• Now wet your hands with water and shake off the excess.
• Working quickly knead the dough a couple of times and then start to roll it into a ball. 
• You might have to dip your hand in water to prevent the dough from sticking to your hand. Optionally work with greased hands.
• Roll the ball in your hands till the surface is smooth.
• Repeat with the rest of the flour. 
• Serve hot with a side dish like Gojju, Sambhar or Hidakbele Saaru which have a watery consistency and not too thick.
• To eat, pinch off a piece of the mudde from the ball, soak it in the side dish and pop it in your mouth. Ideally the mudde should be swallowed without chewing. although I must admit I havent mastered that yet.